Illuminated hairpiece



S. AIELLO, JR

ILLUMINATED HAIRPIECE June 17, 1969 Sheet Filed July 25, 1966 Ill/l NVENTOR.

I SAMUEL A IELLO.JR. BY

ATTORNEYS June 17, 1969 s. AIELLO, JR 3,450,872

ILLUMINATED HAIRPIECE Filed July 25, 1966 Sheet 2 of2 46 FIG. 7

MIN hl 1'. --j

INVENTOR.

SAMUEL AIELLO,JR.

B Y )Gm 5%a4 u 141b ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,450,872 ILLUMINATED HAIRPIECE Samuel Aiello, Jr., Detroit, Mich., assignor of one-half to Lawrence J. Aiello, Detroit, Mich.

Filed July 25, 1966, Ser. No. 567,673 Int. Cl. F211 7/00, 15/08; F21v 33/00 US. Cl. 24059 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an illuminated hairpiece and more particularly to a string of lights with a battery and switch assembly adapted to be worn by women in their hair;

Heretofore there have been proposed illuminated hairpieces in the form of one or more lights adapted to be worn on the head. Such illuminated hairpieces as previously designed have not become popular. One reason is that such previous designs were of a bulky nature and, therefore, too heavy to be supported by the hair itself and, thus, required some auxiliary support member such as a comb, ribbon or the like for supporting the battery for energizing the lights. Another reason for such previous designs never having attained popularity resulted from the inability to conceal the light and battery arrangement sufficiently to present an attractive appearance.

The present invention has for an object an arrangement of hair lights which is designed so that it can be unobstrusively arranged in a womans hair to provide an atractive illuminated hairpiece.

A further object of the invention is to provide in combination with said string of lights a tubular cover adapted to encase the battery and fashioned so as to be easily concealed in a womans hair dress.

Another object of the invention is to provide a battery case for such hair lights which has a roughened outer surface designed to hold the battery in a firmly retained position in a womans hair.

A still further object of the invention resides in a novel switch for a string of hair lights which is of simple construction and which can be operated very readily by the user.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view showing the manner in which the illuminated hairpiece of the present invention is adapted to be arranged in a womans hair.

FIGURE 2 shows a string of hair lights, the battery case and the switch actuator.

FIGURE 3 illustrates one manner in which the battery assembly is adapted to be retained in a womans hair.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary exploded view, partly in section, illustrating one of the lights.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the battery case, cover and switch.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the battery case assembly taken generally along the line 6 -6 in FIG. 3.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view along the line 77 in FIG. 6 and showing the switch in the circuit closing posimg.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 2, the illuminated hairpiece of the present invention com prises a plurality of lights 10 which are interconnected by conductors 12. In the arrangement illustrated six lights 10 are illustrated and conductors 12 preferably interconnect these lights in parallel. A pair of lead conductors 14, 16 extend from an end light 10. Referring to FIG. 5, there is illustrated a battery holder 18 in the form of a cylindrical saddle portion 20 having end walls 22, 24. A small cylindrical battery 26, preferably of the mercury type, is adapted to be seated within the cylindrical saddle portion 20. Battery holder 18 is preferably molded from a lightweight plastic material. On end wall 24 there is arranged an electrical terminal 28 to which the lead conductor 16 is connected by soldering or the like as at 30. Terminal 28 has a flange contact portion 32 adapted to make contact with one terminal 34 of the battery 26 seated in holder 18. The opposite end Wall 22 has a narrow cavity 36 therein for receiving a plate 38. Plate 38 is formed of a conducting material, such as brass, and is provided with a threaded aperture 40 in which a stud 42 is engaged. End wall 22 is fashioned with a cross slot 44 extending from the upper edge thereof to accommodate stud 42. The inner end of stud 42 is provided with a contact button 46 which, when stud 42 is threaded inwardly of plate 38 (FIG. 7), is adapted to contact the terminal 48 at the adjacent end of battery 26. Stud 42 has a flexible cable 50 connected to the outer end thereof, cable 50 being provided with a turning knob 52 at its free end. The other lead conductor 14 from the string of lights is soldered or otherwise connected to plate 38 as at 54.

In order to retain battery 26 seated within holder 18 there is provided a tubular cover 56 which is adapted to be snugly telescoped over holder 18. Cover '56 is preferably formed of a fabric material such as a nylon mesh and has a plurality of small closely-spaced projections 58 extending the length thereof around its outer periphery. Projections 58 are preferably in the form of a small spiral of nylon filament or the like spirally wound around cover 56. The projections 58 provide a plurality of closely-spaced spike-like members around the cover which provide it with a burr-like outer surface. Cover 56 is in a sense very similar to conventional tubular hair rollers of the type on which hair is adapted to be rolled and held in position on a persons head primarily by the frictional properties imparted to it by the tiny projections on the surface thereof. Cover 56 holds battery 26 and holder 18 in assembled relation. Cover 56, as can be seen in FIG. 6, extends the full length of holder 18. Cover 56 also overlies conductor 14. End wall 24 is slotted as at 60' to accommodate conductor 14.

Each light 10 preferably comprises a socket member 62 on which a light bulb 64 is permanently mounted. Socket 62 is covered by an insulating shroud 66 and replaceable colored caps 68 are adapted to he slipped over light bulb '64 and frictionally retained in socket 62 to impart a desired color to the lights.

In use the lights 10 are arranged in the desired pattern in the womans hair. The lights are preferably located within the hair rather than at the outer surface thereof to enchance the appearance imparted to the hair dress by the lights. Since conductors 12 are readily flexible, any suitable arrangement of lights 10 can be obtained. As the lights are arranged in their desired locations, they may be retained in position by means of bob pins in the hair. The battery assembly; namely, battery 26, holder 18 and cover 56, can be arranged in position either before or after the lights 10 are arranged. The battery assembly may be arranged in a concealed condition by rolling it up into a lock of hair as illustrated in FIG. 3 and retaining it in place by a bob pin 70. If desired, the battery assembly may be simply positioned under the hair and retained in place by a bob pin without rolling it into the hair. The projections 58 around the outer peripheral surface of cover 56 interengage with the hair to retain the assembly in place. The battery assembly is preferably arranged in the hair dress so that the knob 52 on the free end of the flexible cable 50 is located adjacent but slightly below the outer surface of the hair. It thus remains concealed but is easily accessible for operation. The primary advantage of the actuator cable 50 is that it enables the battery assembly to be located adjacent the scalp in an effectively concealed position while permitting the light switch to be actuated easily without disturbing the hairdo. It will be appreciated, of course, that the hair lights of the invention may be used with most any hair style desired. Since cable 50 is flexible, the switch actuator can be arranged in any desired position. All that is necessary in order to energize or de-energize the lights is rotation of knob 52; this causes stud 42 to be threaded toward or away from the terminal 48 at one end of the battery. Obviously, stud 42 can be designed such that one or two turns of knob 52 are sufficient to either turn the lights on or turn them off.

I claim:

1. An illuminated hairpiece comprising a plurality of lights electrically interconnected by flexible conductors, a cylindrical battery, a generally cylindrical battery case enclosing said battery, a pair of flexible conductors connecting said battery case with said lights and switch means associated with the battery case for opening and closing the circuit between the battery and the lights, said battery case including a tubular cover having a plurality of individual, radially-extending, burr-like projection means spaced circumferentially around and lengthwise throughout the entire outer surface thereof for retentively concealing the battery case within the hairdo of the wearer whereby said lights may be arranged in said hairdo with said conductors and battery case concealed therein.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein said cover comprises a sleeve formed of a fabric mesh material.

3. An illuminated hairpiece as called for in claim 1 wherein said switch means comprises an electrical contact member rotatably supported on said case and adapted to open and close said circuit in response to rotation thereof in opposite directions and including an elongate switch actuator connected with said rotatable contact and extending therefrom, said switch actuator comprising a flexible cable-like member having a free outer end adapted to be extended to adjacent the outer surface of the hairdo to permit actuation of said switch means.

4. An illuminated hairpiece as called for in claim 1, wherein said battery case includes a battery holder comprising a saddle portion for receiving the battery and a pair of end walls enclosing the opposite ends of the battery, said saddle portion defining an opening extending substantially throughout the length of the battery case along one side thereof and through which the battery may be inserted and a seat in which said battery may be retained, said cover comprising an open-ended sleeve enclosing the battery and the holder for substantially the full length thereof for retaining the battery positioned within said saddle portion.

5. An illuminated hairpiece as called for in claim 1 wherein said battery case includes a battery holder comprising a saddle portion for receiving the battery and a pair of end walls enclosing the opposite ends of the battery, said cover comprising an open-ended sleeve enclosing said battery and holder for substantially the full length thereof and retaining the battery positioned within said saddle portion, said switch means including a plate formed of an electrically conducting material, an electrical contact comprising a stud threaded through said plate, a flexible cable-like member connected to the outer end of said stud for rotating the stud, one of said pair of conductors being connected with said plate, one of said end walls being provided with a cavity extending to the outer periphery thereof, said plate being insertable into said cavity and said cable-like being rotatable to actuate said stud so that the inner end thereof can be advanced into and retracted out of engagement with the terminal at the adjacent end of the battery.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,211,976 1/1917 Spencer et al 2406.4 1,271,390 7/1918 Thomas 2406.4 1,901,180 3/1933 McBride 2406O 1,933,243 10/1933 Merolis et al. 240-6.4 2,303,988 12/ 1942 Christensen 240-59 2,546,945 3/ 1951 Gafiield 240-59 2,962,580 11/1960 Jones 24059 NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD M. SHEER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 240-6.4 

